Message from our Chair, Julann Brown

I was dreaming when I wrote this...

Reflections: My Birthday, Prince, and the June 3rd Primary

I celebrated my birthday on Sunday, June 7 — a birthday I shared with the incomparable Prince. Birthdays always invite reflection, and mine took me back to 2016, when I was serving as a School Board Trustee in Auburn and so many of us still believed a Trump presidency was simply impossible. In the years since, we have learned — quite painfully — how quickly political norms can shift, how fragile our democracy truly is, that progress is not guaranteed to move in a straight line, and how essential it is for communities to stay engaged, vigilant, and connected. Prince understood resilience. He understood community. And he understood unity — the power of bringing people together across every line that tries to divide us. His beloved Minneapolis just finished a five-day celebration of his life and legacy: concerts, sing-alongs, art, and joy in the streets. Ten years after his passing, the city still carries his spirit of unity, even as it continues to show extraordinary strength in the face of hardship, including the ICE raids of 2026 that tested families and neighborhoods. The people of Minneapolis are a shining example of what ordinary people can do to stand up to an autocratic regime. Resilience, community, and unity are especially relevant now, here in California, as we put the angst and uncertainty of the June primary election behind us and look toward November.

The opportunity that Prop 50 created — for California and for the national political map — is still very much alive, and Placer County is at the center of it all. As Democrats, we have work ahead of us — real work. We need to unify, rebuild trust, and focus on what binds us rather than what divides us. We need to prepare for the day when the country finally turns the page on the Trump administration. When that day comes — and it will come — the nation will need healing, reconciliation, and rebuilding. It will need people committed to building a government that serves all people with dignity and fairness.

That responsibility will fall to communities like ours who show up, who care deeply, and who believe in democracy not as an abstract idea but as a lived commitment. I am holding onto hope, resilience, and the belief that unity is still possible. Minneapolis showed us that. Prince showed us that. And I believe Placer County Democrats can show it, too.

Here is to another year of doing the work together.

Democratically Yours,

Julann Brown

Chair

Placer County Democratic Central Committee